In your tight budget, finding money for Facebook advertisements that your Admission and Development Office request might be one of your creative (and financial) challenges. In fact, you might even doubt the need to pay for Facebook ads when the real power behind social media is found in the organic results generated by your followers seeing your messages and notices in their feeds.
The truth is, many marketers, not just schools, have watched as their organic reach has dropped. Facebook is trying to make people’s online experiences “meaningful.” Facebook believes they can create more meaningful user experiences by decreasing the number of page posts that appear in news feeds, which will allow more space for friends, family, and nonpage profiles. What this means, is that you’ll need to increase your marketing budget if you want to keep relevant on Facebook.
A Facebook spokesman said, “The best way to get your stuff seen if you’re a business is to pay for it.” There it is. Simple as that. And, there are no loopholes or magical workarounds.
Depending on your school’s mission and the success of its social media presences, you may decide to continue efforts. Some schools have highly active community and alumni pages that they’ll want to retain. To do so, they’ll need to increase their spending to ensure messages are making it to their followers’ news feeds. We’re not just talking about advertisements that populate the right sidebar of your Facebook screen—we’re talking about both those AND your actual posts, photos, and events, simply called your “messages.”
Schools, like all organizations, need to be strategic with their social media. It’s even more important now with Facebook and Twitter going public than it was a few years ago. There needs to be a well-planned budget for important notices, and even a stronger bond with followers. And, these efforts should be coordinated with not just your marketing, admission, and development personal, but also with your Business Office and Head. Everyone needs to work together and communicate so that your budget can be adjusted as needed as social media sites continue to adjust their algorithms.
The first question that needs to be answered, however, is how much of your school’s budget should be set aside to maintain your communications. According to Yahoo! Small Business Advisor, the magic equation is $1,000 a month and six hours a week.
Yahoo’s article also suggests that your budget be determined by mapping out six to twelve months’ worth of content based on different messages you’d like to develop. This is great advice! These include videos, photo galleries, links to outside sources, polls, and statements. Editorial calendars should be created and maintained by your school’s social media content editor or director, but populated by all departments with communication needs. With this in hand you can decide accordingly which months will need more dollars allocated and which months will need less. (Your Community Manager or social media editor should keep you current with alterations to the calendar so that you can maintain a current record for your budget.)
After you’ve designated funds to your social media communications, you should review your plans every quarter. You may decide that, with the decreased reach, it’s in your best interest to market your school in other ways, or allow more of your marketing budget to be spent on other mediums. Communication is key!
Let us end with this thought—don’t let this change in Facebook’s algorithm leave a bad taste in your mouth. Test your messages and your page’s reach. Find out what works best for your community and your marketing team.
Additional ISM articles of interest
ISM Monthly Update for Development Directors Vol. 12 No. 2 How Development Directors Should Utilize Social Media
ISM Monthly Update for Admission Officers Vol. 10 No.1 Communicating Through Social Media
ISM Monthly Update for Human Resources Vol. 11 No. 8 Social Media Policies: An Opportunity for Conversation
ISM Monthly Update for Admission Officers Vol. 11 No. 7 Your Bad Social Media Habits
Additional ISM articles of interest for Gold Consortium members
I&P Vol. 35 No. 1 Faculty and Staff Use of Social Media: Sample Policy
